Jarnail Toor v. Jefferson Sessions, 705 F. App'x 635

Petitioner Jarnail Singh Toor, an Indian national, sought asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection; BIA adopted IJ's denial and Toor petitioned for review in the Ninth Circuit.
IJ identified inconsistencies between Toor’s sworn testimony before the IJ and his prior asylum interview/application answers.
Key inconsistencies: (1) At the interview Toor said police arrested and detained him; at the IJ he said he was never arrested but was beaten. (2) At the interview militants visited his home three times and he provided money, shelter, and food; at the IJ he said militants visited once and he provided only food and shelter.
The IJ confronted Toor; he offered memory lapses as explanation, which the IJ found unreasonable and rejected.
The Ninth Circuit held that the adverse credibility finding was supported by substantial evidence, and therefore Toor’s asylum and withholding claims failed; the CAT claim also failed because it relied on the same discredited testimony and no other evidence supported a likelihood of torture.
Because the court resolved the case on credibility grounds, it did not reach the agency’s alternative findings (including that Toor provided material support to a terrorist group).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether IJ’s adverse credibility finding is supported	Toor argued testimony inconsistencies were innocuous or due to poor memory	Government argued inconsistencies were material and went to the heart of persecution claim	Court held inconsistencies were significant and supported adverse credibility finding; denial upheld
Whether withholding of removal/asylum should be granted given credibility ruling	Toor argued his experiences warranted protection	Government argued claims rest on incredible testimony	Court held claims fail without credible testimony
Whether CAT protection applies	Toor argued risk of torture on return	Government argued CAT claim rests on same noncredible testimony and lacks other evidence	Court held CAT claim failed for lack of credible supporting evidence

Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100 (9th Cir.) (single supported credibility ground can suffice if it goes to heart of claim)
Maldonado v. Lynch, 786 F.3d 1155 (9th Cir. en banc) (overruling on other grounds noted)
Zamanov v. Holder, 649 F.3d 969 (9th Cir.) (material alterations in persecution account can support adverse credibility finding)
Rivera v. Mukasey, 508 F.3d 1271 (9th Cir.) (IJ may reasonably reject memory-based explanations for inconsistencies)
Farah v. Ashcroft, 348 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir.) (asylum and withholding claims fail absent credible testimony)
Li v. Holder, 559 F.3d 1096 (9th Cir.) (REAL ID Act applicability guidance)